Stary-Eyed
by effulgentcolors
Summary: Emma is still not adjusting too well to life in the Enchanted Forest. Killian adopts a new strategy and decides instead of trying to bring back what she misses to show her what she has now. In the same universe as 'I Miss Chinese'.


Emma let out a tortured sigh, pressing her nose against the semi-cool glass. With everything else – carriages instead of cars, corsets instead of tank tops, dove-messengers instead of phones (_come on_!) – she had forgotten that the Enchanted Forest couldn't boast with air-conditioning either. Since it had been early spring when they 'came home' (it still doesn't feel quite like coming home to Emma, more like_ moving_ home), she had managed to overlook that particular shortcoming.

Now, however, in the middle of a particularly sweltering July, Emma had to bite down on her tongue at least five times a day so that she didn't scream at her parents or ever worse, the poor servants bustling around at all times of the day. She feared that if she did, somebody would be appointed to constantly wave at her with palm (did they even have palms in the Enchanted Forest?) leaves or something.

She heard somebody coming up behind her and seconds later felt two arms come around to encircle her waist. The added heat coming from his body nearly doing her in.

"Don't you even dare!" she growled, her voice coming a bit muffled, nose still pressed against the now nowhere-near-cool glass.

Killian just chuckled behind her but drew his arms back, settling for running the curve of his hook down her spine.

"Somebody's all hot and bothered today," he said, laughter in his voice.

Emma could literally picture his shit-eating grin. After centuries at sea and among the unpredictable jungles of Neverland the man was immune to almost any climatic change.

_She_ most certainly didn't remember Neverland being that hot. But then again she had been looking for her son, the weather hadn't even registered with her. Now? Now, Henry divided his time between three palaces, constantly riding back and forth between his mothers and his grandfather.

The kid loved it. She hated it.

Emma was lucky if she got her son for three days of the week. The other four were mostly divided between sword training, riding lessons, freaking Enchanted Forest history ("You have to know your land, Emma. You have to be able to communicate with the neighbour kingdoms, Emma. You have to actually know where they are situated, Emma." blah, blah, _blah_) and trying to avoid the rest of what her parents wanted to drag her into, namely – ruling a kingdom and said communication with their neighbours. And to top it all she was really, _really_ trying not to dump all her frustrations on Killian because, frankly, he seemed to be the only one (except David perhaps) who even noticed her struggle to adjust and stuck around and tried to help.

For all her trying though she didn't seem very successful.

"I'm hot every damn day, Killian! And, yes, you are bothering me," she bit out, sighing heavily as he drew his hook away because _dammit!_ he couldn't control the fucking weather but she was a ball of nervous energy and pent-up frustration and, honestly, sometimes it was like he _wanted_ to get caught in the crossfire.

"You're doing it again, lass," he said, leaning against the window next to her but keeping his hands to himself.

"Doing what?"

She knew what. She was taking it out on him when it wasn't his fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. If she wanted an air conditioner so damn much she should try building herself one! Yeah, she could just see that going down so well.

"You're focusing on the negative side of things," he stated calmly because, of course, _he_ wouldn't point out the fact that she was being a bitch, plain and simple.

And that was a problem. Because if he was going to act like she wasn't being completely infuriating and unfair then she was damn well going to keep being that way.

"And you're Mister Positivity since when exactly?" she sneered a little, pushing away from the window and wiping a hand across her sweaty forehead (she must have a handkerchief on her somewhere, she was a damn princess, for crying out loud!).

The corner of Killian's lips twitched in a kind of secretive smile, as if he was sharing some private joke with himself, but he ignored her question.

"You're looking at what the Enchanted Forest is lacking instead of what it has to offer," he said, taking a step forward and reaching out to finger the hem of her short dress.

Snow had been mildly outraged at the length Emma had demanded but the blonde had been adamant. If she was wearing a damn dress in this heat then it was going to be a short, sleeveless dress. And no corsets.

"Hate to break it to you, captain," she said, rolling her eyes at his antics. "But back in New York they have summer dresses that would make _you_ blush."

"Ah," he chuckled easily but she could see the bright sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. "But I prefer some things to be left to the imagination."

Suddenly his lips were at her ear and he was so damn close she could feel a whole new kind of heat. Every inch of him was pressing at her without actually making contact anywhere.

"Until the very last moment," he whispered, tongue coming out to flick her earlobe for just a second before he was pulling back, stepping away from her and giving her a devious grin.

"How would the princess like to meet the dashing captain of her father's navy at the gardens'main entrance tonight?"

Emma frowned a little, thrown off by his sudden retreat and proposition. Usually they made their way to the gardens together after dinner.

"You're not joining us for dinner?" she blurted out, cringing a little at her word choice.

The damn castle life (more like a certain captain) was rubbing off on her.

"I'm afraid not. I have some business to attend to," he stated matter-of-factly but there was a light in his eyes and after giving her a mocking bow he sauntering away. "Until tonight, Your Highness."

Emma stared after him with her mouth hanging slightly open. That asshole. Who was she supposed to bicker with for the rest of the day?!

/

Emma took her sweet time at the dinner table and making her way to the gardens afterwards. If Killian couldn't be bothered to join her then she couldn't be bother to hurry to meet him. Only her legs kept carrying her faster than she wanted to go whenever her mind wandered and she stopped consciously slowing down her pace.

When she neared her destination she saw him leaning against the apple tree next to the entrance and Emma could tell he'd been there for a while. And while she thought that was good, that it served him right, her steps quickened and she almost stumbled into a kiss as she reached him, slightly breathless and sweating from the heat that the night was just starting to eat away.

Killian responded eagerly, settling an arm around her waist to steady her as his hand tangled in her hair.

"Don't tell me our dear princess has missed me?" he mumbled as they pulled away, lips brushing against hers.

Emma promptly rolled her eyes.

"She is quickly being reminded of why she should treasure the moments when your ego is not around, taking up all the space in the room."

Killian just chuckled, took her arm and started to lead her into the gardens.

After they had been walking around for about half an hour Emma could finally feel the temperature dropping to a bearable and even pleasant degree. They were nearing the northern exit of the gardens, where the lights from the castle were barely visible, when she spotted something flickering up ahead and after a few more steps they came to a small clearing. Emma stopped, her arm getting jostled a little before Killian turned around to see her rooted to her spot.

In front of them the grass was a deep green, as if reflecting the darkness. It was as if the roses and dahlias around had drawn back and arranged a sort of circle, cutting the space that Killian had obviously visited earlier away from the rest of the world. She could admire the set-up thanks to four tall torches forming a perfect quadrangle in the middle of which lay a checkered blanket and a dozen of colourful pillows.

Killian tugged on her hand, dragging her forward and letting her plop down among the pillows as he moved towards a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses that lay by one of the torches. He handed her one glass, settling his own down before turning his attention to the bottle in his hand. As he popped the cork and threw it away Emma opened her mouth only to find his hand against her lips in a flash, stopping her words.

"Not yet," he said and his voice startled her somehow.

If she had been the one to speak first, Emma was sure she would have whispered.

Killian removed his hand after a few moments, filling both glasses and clicking his against her own, eyes firmly fixed on hers. His blues reflected the little flames jumping around them. She thought they lit up the love and passion inside his gaze to a point where she couldn't see anything else.

She loved that passion, not just for her but for her happiness. It was like he craved her smile more than he craved her body sometimes. Most of the time really. And she was more than willing to give him both.

They sipped their wine for a few minutes, eyes drinking in the intimately illuminated beauty around them. When their eyes met, Killian gave her a grin, one that told her she hadn't seen even half of it yet (she wasn't quite sure what _it_ was). He got up, extinguishing each of the flames around them before making his way to her. Emma was just realizing that she could still make out his features when he reached her and pushed her softly onto her back, the pillows around her readily accepting her weight.

A soft gasp left her lips when Emma's gaze was finally focused _up_. She was only vaguely aware of the man dropping next to her as she stared at the stars above her. The multitude of stars above her.

Emma Swan had never in her life seen so many stars. She hadn't even known there were that many stars. Well, technically – yes, but she had never thought you could see that many stars all at once. The sky was alive with them. Like a pincushion with hundreds, no, _thousands_ of pins stuck in it. Different sizes, some brighter, some flickering, some so close her hand unconsciously reached out as if to pluck them from the sky.

Killian laughed softly at her gesture. His own hand coming up to cover hers and tangle their fingers together.

Emma started to turn her head towards him, doing a little double take at first, as if checking that the stars were still there after she had dared take her eyes off them for a second.

They were. They twinkled happily above them. Making the world expand instead of pressing down on her.

"I've never seen so many stars," she breathed out, gaze finally locking with his.

"I thought so," he replied softly, thumb running over the inside of her palm as his hand still rested above hers.

"You can't really notice them because of all the lights back in Storybrooke. Let alone New York or Boston."

"I've noticed," he said with a little smile.

Of course, he had. Of course, he would zero in on something that she had never had back in her world (it really wasn't _her_ world anymore, was it?). Something beautiful, magnificent. Something that made her feel so small yet larger than life.

"Thank you," she murmured into the warm night air.

Her gaze wondered all over the brilliant canvas above her, choosing one of the numerous twinkling lights, wondering how old it was, if it had disappeared before its light had reached them. She turned her hand around in Killian's grasp so that they were pressed palm to palm, fingers fused together like they never intended to let go.

She had the sudden ridiculous thought that if they were stars, they would be millions of years away from each other and she squeezed his hand tighter because _they were not_. They were right next to each other. And somehow she knew that was how it was meant to be. No matter what. Even if they had been some massive luminous balls up in the sky, she knew when they eventuality exploded or fell or did whatever stars do (she wasn't all that good with the physics side of things) their parts would have ended up together.

"You know every single constellation out there, don't you?" she said with a little grin, shuffling closer and resting her chin on his shoulder so that their noses were almost touching.

Killian laughed softly, free and smitten and just a little bashful. Her adorable man.

"Well, I don't know about each one, lass, but I can certainly give you a decent tour."

Emma beamed up at him, reaching to plant a loud quick kiss on his lips before settling her head back down, hand coming to rest over his heart and her legs wedging themselves in between his.

Her tour lasted more than an hour, the wind whispering softly, slowly but surely turning chillier as Emma's eyes stayed glue to the breathtaking view above her, her body trying to get even closer to the man beside her as his deep accented voice wrapped around her. His arm was warm and secure around her as his hand gestured around to all the non-existent corners of the sky, his chin nudging her head gently in the right direction every once in a while (it never really did the trick because each time she couldn't resist angling her head back to kiss the underside of his jaw and the dimple in said chin and so completely lost the spot she was supposed to be looking at).

"I want that one," she said, her voice coming out giggly and absolutely enchanted as she pointed at one of the bright lights above them, her hand insistent and her nose nudging Killian's cheek like a little girl demanding a new toy.

His laugh was deep and rich and _amazing_. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard, making her completely forget the star she had favoured and drawing her gaze to his gorgeous face.

She was already slightly breathless when he turned his blue, blue, _blue_ eyes on her, stealing all air away.

"If I could get it for you, I would do so in a heartbeat, my love," he said, voice still tinted with laughter and his eyes shining down at her with unrestrained adoration.

"I know."

She did.

He would probably go and get her half the sky, the idiot. Scatter them all over the ceiling of her bedroom until it was so bright inside they had to hide under the covers and shield their eyes so as to see each other.

His gaze softened even further, filling with something that looked very much like awe, as her hand came up, running over his eyebrows and booping his nose before moving back to trace the scar on his cheek.

"It's ok though," she murmured, moving closer. "I've found my own ."

And when her lips pressed against his she could swear there was no amount of stars that could compare to the light exploding behind her eyelids, let alone the one inside her heart.


End file.
